Last week I didn’t feel like cooking. For one, my husband was in Montreal for work and two, I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store solo (we actually enjoy going together – I’m told this will change once we have kids). So I took advantage of the situation and had some of my favorites and one newbie.

Organic Energy Cafe
This small cafe opened last month next to Miles Farmer’s Market in Solon. The brothers who own this place also own Joey’s in Chagrin Falls (I tried to ignore that fact when I walked in). The place is all or mostly organic and features locally grown items whenever possible. I tried the artichoke and tuna panini with roasted red peppers and kalamata olives. I was told this was the best of the bunch. I also tried the Elvis smoothie: organic peanut butter, apples, banana and ice. The panini was very disappointing. It was too salty to eat, the tuna was dry and there was a single pepper. I ended up tossing it after a few bites and had a bowl of cereal instead. The smoothie wasn’t bad, although it didn’t really taste like the typical Elvis because the apple really over powered the banana and peanut butter. My bill was $14. I did think $7 was a bit high for a small smoothie, but considering it’s all organic, I’m fine paying more for better ingredients – I’m just not fine paying that much for something that ends up in the garbage. By the way, the best Elvis smoothie is at Liquid Planet.

Saffron Patch
The one day was cold and rainy – perfect weather for Indian food. I ordered the vegetable samosa and mutter paneer. Absolutely delicious! I love this place. Always consistently good Indian food. It’s not my favorite – that goes to Cafe Tandor, but this is definitely a close second.

Fresh Market on Van Aken
I love this grocery store. They have wonderful produce, some hard to find items, great prepared dishes, a nice cheese selection and friendly staff. I’ve had the soup and sushi as take out before and both pretty good. On weekends, they will make the sushi with brown rice. I like that option, just wish it wasn’t designated only to weekends. At least there is the sushi duo at Heinen’s and they will make sushi with brown rice anytime. That night I went with the tempura shrimp roll and a few pieces of tuna sashimi. Both were really good. I’ve never had bad sushi from there and for a grocery store, they really do a nice job. And trust me, they all don’t.

American Tavern
This is my favorite local spot. I used to bartend and serve here in college during the summers. This was always the go-to place for my friends growing up and sometimes now when those that have moved come back. A lot of fun times there. This place has been around forever. The owner, Linda, is unbelievable nice, as well as all the servers. It’s not amazing food per se, but definitely worth a visit. They have pretty good bar food (especially the wings, fish fry and burgers) and some unexpected entrees. The night James came home we decided to head to the AT for a quick dinner. I had a BLT on rye and a bowl of the tomato dill soup – which was surprisingly good. But then again, they always do a nice job with homemade soups. It’s very kid-friendly, too. My nieces and nephews love it.